Star Wars Book One: Force V2
by Darth Mannoroc
Summary: On a remote world in the Outer Rim, a small group of friends has drawn the ire of the vast Galactic Empire. Now pursed across the stars, they have joined forces with an old warrior and his brusque companion, trying to stay one step ahead of the villainous Inquisitor Amon. Rewrite of Star Wars Book One: Force


**Star Wars Book One: Force**

**Chapter 1: Sins of the Past**

**Capital City, Kurlik, Arkanis Sector, Outer Rim. 2 BBY**

"Korra! Breakfast is ready!"

Korra awoke, her eyes straining to adjust to the light. Groaning, she rolled over, pulling the covers over her to escape the tyranny of the morning.

"Korra! Hurry or it will get cold!"

Sighing in defeat, she threw the cover away, rising from her bed. Yawning, she stretched out her stiff limbs. Shaking her head clear of residual drowsiness, she finally opened the door to her room, making her way downstairs.

Coming into the small kitchen in their modest residence, Korra was greeted by the sight of her parents, her mother hunched over the stove while her father sat at the table, reading from his datapad.

"Senna, sit down and eat." Her father said, looking up from his notes. "I'll clean up. Your food is getting cold."

Senna shook her head. "It's fine Tonraq, I'm almost done."

Tonraq shook his head, setting down his datapad. Standing up, he moved towards his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist. Smiling, Senna leaned back into her husband, resting her head against his broad shoulders.

"Eat your breakfast honey." He said, his tone soft and tender. Relenting, Senna nodded, turning to face him. Standing on her tip toes, they kissed.

Korra stood leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed. Smiling she pushed off of the wall, making her way into the room.

"Morning mom, morning dad." She said.

Jumping at the sound of her voice, her parents blushed at being caught. Releasing Senna from his grip, Tonraq turned to face his only daughter.

"Good morning sweetheart." He said. "Nice of you to join us."

Korra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, my bed was especially comfy last night."

Tonraq smiled, huffing in silent laughter. Senna came up to her, pulling her into a hug which she returned.

"So, what are your plans for today?" she asked.

Korra shrugged. "I dunno. I might head around to Asami's shop later, see if she's up to anything."

Tonraq smiled again. "What about Mako and Bolin? You haven't seen them in a while."

Korra shrugged again. "They've been busy. I don't know what they've been up to."

They ate their breakfast, enjoying each other's company, talking about this and that. Tonraq mentioned an old friend of his was coming to visit, one that he wanted Korra to meet.

"So tomorrow's the big day." Senna suddenly stated.

Tonraq's mood suddenly darkened. "Korra." He started, trying to find the words for what would come next.

Korra picked up on her father's reservations. It had been a point of contention between her and her parents for the last six months, but it was something that she needed to do. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her life on this backwater. She was going to make something of her life, she was going to see other worlds, marvel at the wonders of the wider galaxy.

And the only way to do that on this world was to join the Empire.

"Dad, there's nothing you can say. I've made up my mind."

Tonraq sighed. "I know. But there are other ways off of this world than the Imperial Academy."

"Like what?" Korra asked. "I doubt uncle Unalaq is going to come all the way from Corulag to whisk us away from here."

The mention of his brother's name set Tonraq on edge. It had been years since they had last seen each other, and they hadn't exactly parted on good terms. "Be that as it may, I don't approve. You're young Korra. You don't remember a time before the Empire, or…"

"The old Republic, I know." Korra cut him off. "It's all you talk about, but we're not in the republic anymore dad. This is the only chance I have."

"Korra don't talk to your father like that!" Senna scolded. Tonraq raised a hand to calm her.

"No honey, she's right." His gaze fell. "There's nothing that I can do or say that will change your mind, that I've accepted. But promise me one thing."

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Tonraq knelt down, now at eye level with his daughter.

"Promise me, that no matter what happens, or what they put you through that you will remember who you are."

Confused, Korra shifted under her father's determined gaze. Why would he say something like that? She knew that he had a past with the Imperials, but no matter how much she asked, he would never tell her anything. He would always just say that 'what's done is done'.

"I…. I promise dad." She replied uncertainly. Tonraq smiled, but his reservation was still clear in his eyes.

Pulling her into a hug, he closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up inside him. Korra returned his embrace, catching sight of her mother. Like her father, her face was etched with worry, trying to stay strong for her.

Breaking away from her, Tonraq made his way towards the front door.

"I have a meeting I need to get to. We'll talk more about this when I get back."

Korra nodded, still unclear about why her parents opposed her enrolment so much. Tonraq stood, reaching for his overcoat from the rack by the door. Pulling it on, he once again embraced his wife, Senna returning the gesture. With a final goodbye, he left the house.

Senna sighed. Korra was too stubborn for her own good. She had latched onto the idea that she had no future on Kurlik, that she needed to be as far away from her home as possible in order to live. Watching as her daughter sauntered off to her room, she wished with all of her life that she could tell her the truth.

If she did join the Academy, the Empire certainly would discover their secrets

* * *

Korra threw herself down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She just couldn't understand. All her life her parents had told her that she had to do what was right, to do what she thought was best. How could they not see that the Academy was her only choice? The only other option was to join one of the less reputable organisations that still clung to Kurlik like the parasites they were. The Empire was the only real option, as much as Korra hated them. At least with them she could be secure in her future, and maybe even save enough pay to help her family back home.

That is of course assuming the Empire does pay its personnel.

Her comlink beeped, vibrating against the surface of her bedside table. Drawn out of her thoughts, she reached for the device, an old Hush-98 her father had given her, thumbing the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Korra hey, it's Bolin."

She shot upright. This was completely unexpected. "Bolin? Where have you been, it's been a week since I've heard from you!" she scolded.

"Yeah we, uh, kinda messed up a little."

Korra rolled her eyes. Whatever scheme the big idiot had cooked up now couldn't bode well for anyone.

"Where are you? I'll go get Asami and get you out of there."

"No no no no don't!" he pleaded. Korra was taken aback by his tone. What could the two brothers have possibly done to be so panicked about?

"Bolin." Korra started, her tone low and dangerous. "What did you do?"

There was a pause before she received a response. "Well, we kinda, might have, stolen some supplies from an Imperial convoy."

Korra's eyes went wide, her mouth gaping in shock. "You did what?" she yelled into the comlink, her voice a mix of pure rage and sheer disbelief.

"Wait wait, before you get mad…."

"Oh I'm far past that point Bolin!" she nearly screamed. "How could you two be so stupid? Do you have any idea what they'd do to you if you were caught?"

Bolin started to say something before he was cut off by a scuffle on his end of the comlink. Korra's eyes went wide again, her breath hitched in her throat.

"Oh no." she muttered to herself. jumping up from her bed, she started pacing across her room. Had the Empire found them? If they had, this would no doubt be the last time she would here from her friends.

The commotion stopped, though she could still hear Bolin fretting in the background.

"Korra, its Mako."

Korra sighed, relieved that they were ok. "Mako, where are you?"

"We're at the scrapyard. Korra listen to me. The bucketheads are out in force looking for us. We still have the cargo on us, we looked inside and it's some serious gear. This is the biggest score we've ever had, and we're not going to leave it behind for the Imps to get their hands on."

Korra raised an eyebrow. "What could be so important that you'd raid an Imperial convoy?"

Korra could almost hear the smirk in his response.

"Try a full shipment of combat adrenals."

Korra blinked. Had he said what she thought?

"Yeah, it's that big!" Mako said, taking her silence as his queue to continue. "If Bolin and I get this crate to Shin, we'll be set for Months!"

Korra pursed her lips, mulling this new development in her mind. Mako and Bolin were playing a dangerous game, one that she certainly didn't approve of. She wasn't sure who was worse. Shin was one of worst people that she knew, using his charm and charisma to lure people into the hands of the remaining gangs. He'd sunk his claws into the two brothers since before she knew them, but she knew that they hadn't had a choice. Mako and Bolin's parents had been killed when the Empire made its debut on Kurlik, gunned down at a mass demonstration against their rule. Since then they'd been on the streets, only recently finding some refuge in the form of Asami, who had taken them in at her workshop.

"Ok." Korra started. "I'm going to get Asami and we'll come around in the speeder. You better be ready to move when we get there."

"Thank you." Mako sighed in relief. "You just saved our hides."

Korra smiled. "You owe me big time for this." Hanging up, she pulled on her leatheris jacket and made her way downstairs.

"Mom, I'm heading out!" she called back into the living room.

"Be careful!"

Opening the door, Korra made her way onto the streets of Capital City. Asami's workshop was only a few blocks away. Making her way through the crowds, she caught sight on a few Imperial troop transports making their way towards the outskirts. Mako and Bolin had drawn quite a crowd. There was even a Sentinel dropship making its way down from orbit, which caught a lot of attention from the populace. Such a sight was uncommon on this world. Despite the local insurgents, Kurlik was very quiet, and didn't warrant much attention from the Imperial Navy.

Concerned that her friends were in much more trouble than she had originally thought, Korra picked up her pace, breaking into a light jog. Turning the corner onto her street, Korra caught sight of Asami, already prepping her speeder. Looking up from the guts of the repulsorlift drive, Asami waved at her, her black work overalls smeared with grease, the red trim dulled by years of use.

"I take it you've heard?" Korra called, waving back at her friend.

Closing the access hatch with more force than necessary, Asami pulled off her gloves, bunching them together in her hands. "Yep. They just can't help themselves can they?"

Korra shook her head, agreeing with the sentiment. "I blame Mako. Bolin would never think of anything this stupid."

Asami grinned, shaking her head. "Yeah. He'd probably take Pabu on a circus tour around the city instead. Anyway we should probably get going. I doubt the bucketheads will wait for us to get them out of the fire."

"Couldn't agree more." Korra said, already climbing into the passenger seat.

* * *

On the streets of Capital City, Tonraq made his way through the bustling crowds towards his destination. Huddled up in his overcoat, his face hidden by the brim of his hat, he blended in with the swarm of pedestrians. Every so often, he would take a detour through a back alley when he spotted the distinctive white plastoid armor of Imperial Stormtroopers, out on patrol for any dissenters to their glorious new order. At one point, he had seen a squad of the helmeted drones harassing a poor food merchant, spouting something about not having the correct permit to sell his goods.

It hadn't always been like this. Kurlik was once a quiet little world, out of the way of the major hyperlanes, and never saw much traffic until the fall of the old Republic. Then the Empire came, and they had seemed hell bent on making the lives of everyone as short and painful as possible. They had brought some much needed law and order to a world that had once been in the grip of the Hutts, but that was simply swapping one form of oppression for another. While the Hutts would leave you alone as long as you paid your dues, the Empire was not so forgiving. People had disappeared for saying so much as one word in disfavour of their regime.

And then there was the rebellion. The first organised dissidents had sprung up about two years ago, and since then had conducted many strikes against Imperial targets, such as the ISB headquarters and the new orbital shipyards that the Empire built when they had solidified their claim to this world. Despite using tactics that anyone who owned a dictionary would call terrorism, the Kurlik cell had proven themselves to be able to stand up to the Empire's tyranny.

They were the reason his friend was coming to Kurlik. They were the reason he had lied to his daughter about his work for the past two years.

They were the reason he had hope for his families future.

Tonraq had been involved with the rebels ever since they had arrived. He had provided intel for them on more than one occasion, sometimes intel needed for them to conduct a major strike. Although he sorely wanted to make the Empire pay for all the pain that they had caused him, he could not allow himself to take part in any of the rebel's raids. That way lay a dark path, and he had a family to care for. He had never met any members personally, always opting to communicate through the use of courier droids. They had a new operation in the planning stages, one that would severely weaken the Empire's influence on Kurlik.

However, the arrival of a Star Destroyer in orbit had somewhat accelerated their plans.

Passing a rather busy cantina, he turned down an alleyway, making a beeline for the building sited at the end of the pathway. The building had once been a spice refinery, used by the Hutts to produce ryll and glitterstim for their vile trade. It had been abandoned ever since Kurlik had changed ownership, and was now a rusting, derelict ruin, all but forgotten.

The perfect place for a covert meetup.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Tonraq pushed on the refineries side door. With a bit of effort, and some discouraging creaking from the frames pneumatics, it finally receded into its housing, granting him access to the interior of the still toxic ruin. Pulling on a rebreather mask to guard against the residual spice that was still present within, he made his way inside, pulling the door shut behind him.

Inching his way towards the rendezvous point, he made sure to watch his step. The floor was littered with shattered beakers and other broken lab equipment. When the Empire had rolled through the area, they hadn't given the Hutts much time to clear out. The resulting stampede off world had left much of the local industry completely unviable, being horribly contaminated with chemicals far worse than glitterstim. Luckily this refinery had been spared that fate, simply due to the nature of its trade.

Coming up to the door to the break room, Tonraq paused. The light on the doors control panel was flashing red. It was locked. His contact had told him that the room would be open. Suddenly wary, he reached for his holstered blaster, an old DH-17 that had been in his possession for decades. Before he could move away from the door, he was tackled from behind. Forced up against the wall, he felt several pairs of armoured hands restraining him, pulling his arms behind his back and forcing him to his knees.

Feeling himself being relieved of his weapon, he struggled against his captors. Thrashing and squirming against their iron grip, he was rewarded for his efforts by a rifle butt to the back of his head. He ceased struggling, dazed, his head spinning from the impact.

"Finally, we have found you."

Tonraq froze. That voice. It couldn't be. He hadn't heard that voice for decades. His vision clearing, he looked up, finally getting his first good look at his assailants.

They were Imperial alright, but they weren't clad in the standard stormtrooper armour. Rather than the familiar white plastoid, their armour was pitch black, almost completely hiding them in the shadows of the poorly lit refinery. They must be part of a special operations unit.

They were not his main concern. That honour belonged to the man standing opposite him. Clad in a hooded grey coat, his shin high black leatheris boots shining in what little light that was streaming in from outside. His white mask, a red disk painted on the forehead, contrasted harshly with the rest of his outfit. His hands were clasped behind his back, his gaze set firmly on Tonraq.

"I'm sure you now know the fate of your little cell, Tonraq." He said, his deep baritone echoing across the refinery floor.

"Amon." Tonraq managed to say, gasping for breath. "How terrible it is to see you again."

Amon chuckled. "How long has it been? Sixteen years I believe?"

Tonraq spat at the ground, barely missing Amon's boots. He was rewarded with another strike from one of Amon's men.

"A pity you cannot be civil." Amon started. "We shall have to ask Senna if she approves of your attitude."

Tonraq stiffened, suddenly realising the true gravity of the situation.

"Yes." Amon began, turning away from his captive. "As we speak my men will be bearing down on your unsuspecting wife. You shall be in her company again shortly."

Looking back over his shoulder, his hands still clasped behind him, Amon nodded to the squad leader. Nodding back in confirmation, the trooper advanced towards Tonraq, drawing a stun baton from its holster.

"But first, we have much to discuss."

**A/N**

**First chapter in the new revamped Book One. Hope you find it better than the original, I'm certainly more pleased with how this attempt has turned out. Please leave a review, I really want to know what you guys think.**


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